Removable casket-handle.



C. M. RALSTON.

REMOVABLE CASKET HANDLE.

APPLICATION FILED 050.11, 1916.

1 ,22?,929 Patented May 29, 1917.

A TTORNE Y UNliTED PATENT FFTE CLEON lEOODY IRALSTON, OF BRONSON, KANSAS.

REMOVABLE CASKETHANDLE.

Application filed December 11, 1916.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CLnoN MOODY RAL- s'roN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Bronson, in the county of Bourbon and State of Kansas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Removable Casket I-Iandles, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to removable handles, and one object is to provide a handle especially adapted for use on burial caskets, although it may be used for other purposes.

A further object is to provide novel means for detachably applying the handle to a casket in such manner that it will not become accidentally detached, although it can be quickly removed when desired by proper manipulation.

A further object is to provide means of this character wherein the working parts when assembled are concealed to avoid marring the appearance of the handle.

Another object is to provide a device of this character of simple and inexpensive construction, as well as being convenient and efl ective in use.

With the foregoing and other objects in view which will hereinafter appear in the following description, the invention resides in the combination and arrangement of parts pointed out in the claims, it being understood that changes in the embodiment of the invention can be made within the scope of said claims without departing from the spirit of the invention.

In order that the invention may be fully understood, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a broken, side elevation of a casket or other object with my handle attached thereto.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the two main members of the device.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged, vertical section on line ITIITI of Fig. 1.

The drawing portrays a portion of one wall of a casket A, which may signify any suitable object to which the handle is applicable.

1 designates a back plate which is, preferably, countersunk in the wall A to which it is permanently secured by screws or other suitable means. Said back plate 1, which consists, preferably, of sheet metal, has a downwardly-extending, resilient tongue 2 struck therefrom and leaving an opening 3.

Specification of Letters .Patent.

Patented May 29, 1917.

Serial No. 136,354.

Below the opening 3 is a slot 4, through which the free end of a spring 5 projects, which is riveted or otherwise firmly secured to the lower portion of the outer face of the plate 1.

7 designates a cover plate which may be ornamented or embellished in any desired manner. The rear wall of said cover plate 7 has a tongue 8 somewhat similar to the tongue 2, except that it extends upwardly instead of downwardly. The back wall of the cover plate 7 also has an opening 9 opposite the tongue 8, and a lip 10 with an upturned terminal 11 arranged beneath said tongue 8.

13 designates a pair of lugs on the front of the cover plate 7 to receive the upper end. of an arm 14, operably-connected to said lugs by a pivot 15. The upper end of the arm 14 has shoulders 17 and 18 for engagement with shoulders 19 and 20, respectively, on a protuberance 21 extending from the front side of the cover plate 7 and carrying the lugs 13. When the arm 14 is raised to approximately horizontal position, preparatory to lifting the casket A, the shoulders 17 and 18 contact the shoulders 19 and 20, respectively, and check further upward movement of the free end of said arm. The free end of the arm 14 has a loop 23 to receive a handle 24. The handle 24 is connected adjacent its ends to pair of arms 14, which of course require a pair of cover plates 7 and a pair of vertical plates 1. The handles 24 may be made in various lengths and when they extend almost the length of the casket a greater number of the back plates and the cover plates may be used for each handle.

In order to apply the handles to the casket, the cover plates 7 are brought adjacent to the back plates 1, with the upper ends of the tongues 8 just below the lower terminals of the tongues 2. The plates 7 are then moved upwardly with the tongues 8 engaging the back side of the tongues 2, which latter guide the former into the openings 3 and are themselves guided into the openings 9 by the tongues 8. As the cover plates approach the limit of their upward movement the lips 10 enter the slots 4 and are pushed upwardly against the upper edge of said slots by the springs 5, at the same time the lower ends of the tongues 2 are seated against the lower ends of the openings 9, as disclosed by Fig. 3.

Then the casket is lifted by the handles the tongues 2 and 8 are assisted in carrying the weight by the lips 10, the upturned ends of which engage the inner surfaces of the back plates 1 and thus prevent the lower ends of the cover plate 7 from swinging outward from the faces of said back plates 1. The lips 10 and the springs 5 also overcome any tendency of the cover plates 7 and the handle to slip downwardly and become detached from the back plates 1, when the handles are released and permitted to swing downward to-the normal position disclosed by Figs. 1 and 3.

To remove the handles it is only necessary to push downwardly thereon against the action of the springs 5 until the lips 10 with their upturned ends can be withdrawn from the slots l, after which the handles are again pushed downwardly until the tongues 8 are disengaged from the tongues 2.

From the foregoing description, it is evident that one sct of handles may be used repeatedly, as they can be readily applied to the caskets before interment and quickly removed before the casket is lowered into the grave.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. In a device of the character described, a resilient back plate, a tongue extending downwardly and outwardly therefrom, a

cover plate, a tongue extending upwardly from said cover plate and adapted to interlock with the first tongue when the cover plate is pushed upwardly against the back plate, and a handle independent of said tongues and suitably connected to said cover plate.

2. In a device of the character described, a resilient back plate, a tongue on said back plate, a cover plate having an opening to receive said resilient tongue, a tongue on said cover plate adapted to interlock with the first tongue on proper manipulation of the cover plate, and a lip having an upturned terminal on the cover plate adapted to enter a slot in the back plate, and a spring on the cover plate adapted to bear against the lower sides of said slot and the lip to retain the latter in the former.

3. In a device of the character described,

a resilient back plate, a tongue on said back plate, a cover plate, a tongue on said cover plate adapted to interlock with the first tongue on proper manipulation of the cover plate, an arm pivoted to the cover plate, and a handle connected to said arm.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature, in the presence of two witnesses.

CLEON MOODY RALSTON.

Witnesses:

RONALD ANDERSON, G. O. ANDERSON.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

